1) yeh but the issues was the differences in the hypotheticals1. Exactly -- which is to say, your hypothetical wasn't really relevant, and my *personal* experience was offered to explain why your hypthetical example A) likely wouldn't result in your desired outcome, and B) isn't really relevant.
2. Yes, it's VERY easy to claim an insult or potentially defamatory statement wasn't meant to be taken literally (oh hello, Elon Musk), which is...what I said previously. Whether it's after the fact or not is irrelevant because you rarely get defamation cases where someone says "I absolutely mean this literally and in no uncertain terms, I am accusing this person of pedophelia and waive all claims to this being in jest!"
3. Uh....publishing articles is entirely different that forum posts. Lawsuits against the Escapist for content generated by its own staff or freelancers is not covered under Section 230. That's...the whole point of 230. Plaforms and communications providers can't be held legally responsible for the content that users post on those mediums.
2) Yes which is where the issue comes in of the deemed clarity you can't just have a rule where you pull the "Of course I was joking". I mean Alex Jones tried that one in court before.
3) And twitter is publishing fact checks now.